When Ed Yang, owner of FASTSIGNS of Sunnyvale, read about the earthquakes, first in Haiti and then in Chile, he knew he wanted to do something to help.

“I had to think, ‘What can I do here, in California, with what I have to help the victims of these disasters?’” said Yang. “I contacted my local rotary club and also sent out a mailer to my customers letting them know that I would donate any signage they may need for fundraising and relief efforts.”

Soon, the center was receiving inquires about the offer. The Silicon Valley Chapter of the Red Cross was one of the first organizations to contact them. The Red Cross has been holding fundraisers and canned food drives across the country in response to the disasters in Haiti and Chile, and the Silicon Valley chapter was no exception. The difference, however, was that this chapter was in desperate need of new signage to promote their cause.

“The banners the Red Cross had before were tattered and needed to be replaced, but there just wasn’t room in their budget to replace them,” explained Cassie Vignieri, customer service representative for the Sunnyvale FASTSIGNS. “They were so excited when they came to pick up the three banners because not only will it help them at their fundraising drives, but they can also use them to replace their damaged banners.”

Delphi Academy, a secular, private educational institution located in Santa Clara, wanted to help the victims of the earthquakes as well. The school received two banners, an indoor sign and two yard signs for their cause. The signs were set up at donation drop points at the academy to help spread awareness.

“The donated signs were very valuable to us as they helped promote our school's Haiti / Chile fundraising event much faster and more effectively,” said Nita Kumar, an administrator from the Delphi Academy. “FASTSIGNS of Sunnyvale is doing a great service and any such help is very valuable.”

These donations have also provided team-building experiences for the Sunnyvale FASTSIGNS. Yang and the staff have enjoyed sharing photos of the donated signs and the recipients with their Facebook fans, as well as their Twitter followers. Throughout the projects, they have tweeted updates, posted reminders and uploaded pictures of the final results.

“We just received six thank you letters from students at Delphi Academy and were very touched by their messages,” said Yang. “Everyone on the team is just happy to be able to do something for these organizations because we want to give back to a community that has given so much to us.”

The Sunnyvale FASTSIGNS sign and graphics center provides custom sign and graphics solutions for businesses and organizations of all types and sizes.